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Sunday, July 1, 2012

AA Tourism Chief Executive, Peter Blackwell Resigns

In the tourism industry, people come and go, but there are always a few folk that have "been there for ever" and provide a much needed anchor.

AA Tourism Chief Executive, Peter Blackwell was someone that earned the distinction of sticking around for long enough to become a trusted and stable part of the fabric that forms the dynamic tourism industry.

After a while you start taking industry leaders like Peter for granted and it was only when I started hearing rumours several weeks ago that he was resigning from the AA that I started thinking about the huge void that he would leave behind.

A quick search of Google reveals a pithy 2-liner in a Tourism Industry Association newsletter that confirms that:

From a motel industry perspective, Peter was known as a regular inspirational speaker at motel gatherings and the head of an organisation that the majority of motels still choose to advertise with. Due to a quirk that dictates that the majority of moteliers don't tend to get out much, only a small percentage would have personally connected with Peter. And that's a shame.

Those that were fortunate to meet Peter were impressed with his drive and passion. A large man with shy persona would transform into an inspiring and gifted communicator behind a lectern. Peter will be best remembered for committing AA Tourism into promoting domestic tourism in recent years and this provided a great emotional story of "the little guy" single-handedly filling the void of promoting domestic tourism.

The motel industry have been calling for "someone" to take up the challenge of a domestic tourism campaign for many years and gave enthusiastic lip-service when the AA took up the mantle. By their actions, probably too few individual motels supported AA Tourism's domestic campaigns and this year, domestic tourism is off the menu. I sense that Peter may have been somewhat perplexed with this?

So after what has probably been the hardest year of trading for AA NZ Tourism operations - where to now? We hear that the grocery business is beckoning...

"When I look at the ocean, I feel the greatness of man, I think of man's magnificent capacity that created this ship to conquer all that senseless space. When I look at mountain peaks, I think of tunnels and dynamite. When I look at the planets, I think of airplanes." - Ayn Rand 1943